


A New Chapter

by Silvery_Moon_Thing



Series: The Flux Chronicles [1]
Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Duncan's Lab, F/M, Gore/Detailed Wounds, Pre-Fluxed Kim, Swearing, nanocoffee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-18 22:10:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7332565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvery_Moon_Thing/pseuds/Silvery_Moon_Thing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Sorry I'm so behind! Don't expect me to stick to a schedule is I guess the moral of the story.</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry I'm so behind! Don't expect me to stick to a schedule is I guess the moral of the story.

"Beat ya there!" Kim was running through a large field, the castle looming overhead. Behind her, Duncan was tripping over practically everything, from loose pebbles to clusters of vines to clumps of dirt.  
"Hey, wait up!" Now Kim was at the river, and started doing a backstroke. By the time Duncan got there and started awkwardly wading, she was already on the other side and running up the hill to the castle.  
"Not my fault if you're slow!" When she reached the top, Kim looked down over the edge of the hill to see Duncan slowly and tiredly beginning to scale the hill. "Hurry up slowpoke, you're gonna miss it!" She looked up expectantly towards the horizon.  
"I'm coming, I'm coming! Geez!" When he finally reached the cliff, he collapsed, exhausted.  
"Y'know, for someone who knows so much about, like, everything, you sure are slow." Duncan knew she was just teasing, but gave her a light punch anyway. "Look, it's starting!" Duncan turned his attention westward and focused on the horizon and together they watched as the sun set.

 

~~~~~*1 Month Later*~~~~~

 

Recently, they had discovered Kim was pregnant, but couldn't determine for how long. They had started preparing a room in her tower for the baby nonetheless. "I still don't think you should be wearing that jet pack, Kim," Duncan warned her. "What if something goes wrong?"  
"Like what? Give me one good example," She retorted.  
"Uhh, birth defects. What about that?"  
She took a second to consider, then landed on the flux sphere. "Mm, I guess you're right. I shouldn't help then, should I?" She couldn't help but laugh at the glare he gave her.  
"Just... be careful up there, okay? The flux levels are still really dangerous."  
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. When has ANYTHING gone wrong up here?" Now Duncan landed next to her on the sphere.  
"Well, I don't know, it's just... I'm getting a bad feeling."  
"Please, if anything WAS going to-" She was cut off when her hand slipped and she started falling in. She grasped desperately behind her back to find the button on her jet pack to no avail. Duncan dove down and caught her, but not before she inhaled some of the pure flux. As soon as she made contact with the fresh air outside, she went into an uncontrollable coughing fit. He flew her into her tower and laid her in bed, then took care of her the rest of the day.

 

~~~~~*A few Months Later*~~~~~

 

Now, Kim's pregnancy was more visible, and they had decided to leave and find a new home. They were packing their things they wanted to keep into the spaceship and getting ready to leave. "I think that's the last of it. Ready to go?" Duncan asked Kim. She nodded, and he took the wheel and started flying.  
"You weren't kidding when you said this thing was /slow/. Aren't there any faster settings?"  
"Well, there are a couple more, but they're past the recommended speed setting."  
"What does that mean as far as our speed goes?"  
"This is as fast as it gets. Safely, at least."  
"Ughh. Where are we even going?"  
"I don't know. Just... somewhere else." They continued to drive until well after sunset, waiting until the landscape was no longer discernible. Duncan turned off the motor, waking a sleeping Kim.  
"Hmm? Are we there yet?"  
"No. Just stopping the ship for now." Kim fell back on her pillow and pretended to fall asleep. She waited until she could hear him sleeping, and sat up as quietly as she could. After looking over and making sure Duncan was asleep, she threw off her blanket and stood up. Tiptoeing over to the control panel, she looked at the speedometer. *0 KPH*. She saw a lever under it labeled "*Speed*". Next to it were five different settings, a red line after the third. Looking back at Duncan one last time, she flipped the lever to the fifth and highest setting. The ship immediately took off, causing her to instinctively brace herself on the wall. Duncan jerked awake, looking at Kim and the control panel before muttering "/Shit./" under his breath. He leapt up and grabbed the control panel, pressing multiple buttons frantically before a robotic voice turned on over the intercom: "Critical speed reached. Left wing damaged. Auto-pilot rerouting." Duncan looked petrified, and a minute later, the voice came back on. "Reroute failed. Collision imminent in T-30 seconds."  
"Shit shit shit shit shit." Duncan continued to press buttons in what appeared to be random order, before looking over to see Kim still clutching the wall, a look of pure terror in her eyes. He let go of the command panel and ran over to her, taking her hands into his. "I... I guess this is goodbye then."  
"Duncan... I love you." She was practically whispering.  
He smiled, and shed a tear. "I love you, too."  
They hugged, and remained embraced as the timer counted down, "T- 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." Everything went black.


	2. A New Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Duncan and Kim wake up after the crash.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try to post in bursts of five chapters over five days, with large gaps between bursts. I hope this satisfies your need to read.

Duncan and Kim woke up on top of a mountain, the ship in smoldering ruins around them. Kim woke up first, and had a look around. The first thing she noticed was that her hands had turned purple. As she looked at it, she saw it moving around, writhing, almost. She decided to ignore it, for the moment. She found Duncan not too far from where she had woken up,and remembered those last few moments before the ship crashed. She smiled to herself a little bit, then continued looking around. She found that the plateau they had landed on wasn’t very big, and consisted of mostly a greenish gravel. There were pieces of the ship scattered all over and around the mountain, but thankfully, the black box was still intact. She activated it and sat back.  
The screen displayed static for a second, then picked up back to 30 seconds before the crash. She watched through all of it, shifting to her toes near the last five seconds in anticipation and excitement. At the moment of the crash, a blaring white light flashed before fading to the scene around her. "Ughh." She heard Duncan waking up behind her, and quickly turned off the black box and walked over the him.  
The front of his lab coat was stained red, and there was a gash on his forehead. "Hey. Feeling alright?" He moaned in response. "I'll... look around for some water, okay?" He gave a slight nod in response. "I'll be back soon." With that, she stood up and walked away to start searching the debris.  
There were lots of small pieces scattered around, so she started with the big ones. From what she could tell, the middle of the ship, where the four wings joined, was mostly intact, with minor damage. The bottom had fallen out and there were hole a couple of holes in the walls, but other than that, it was alright. The rest of the ship was a different story. Looking over the edge of the mountain, she could she that the left wing had been destroyed and scattered over the edge, evident by the broken crystals scattered over the side. There were small pieces of the back wing scattered over the small area they had landed in, and under one of them, Kim found a supply chest with a mostly empty bottle of water and half a pork chop. "Great," she muttered, "now all I need is something useful." As she continued to search through the rubble, finding some blankets and a couple more feeble supplies, she saw that it was almost nighttime. "Aw, crap." She took what supplies she had and headed back to Duncan. "Hey, I got some stuff. Night's approaching, and we shouldn't stay out here in the open. From what I can tell, the hull is probably the safest place for us to go. Do you think you can stand up?" He grunted, and pushed himself to his feet. Almost immediately, he collapsed, Kim barely catching him at the last second. "Hey hey hey, it's okay. Everything's alright. Just lean on me." They slowly walked over to the broken hull, Duncan leaning heavily on Kim. She sat him down on one of the blankets and started working on sealing up the doors. She managed to get a dirt wall going up most of the way on all four corridors, and sat down next to Duncan, exhausted. She looked over and saw that he was bleeding a lot. His lab coat was now mostly red, and his eyes were glossy. His breathing was shallow, and he was deathly pale. "Hold on there, it'll be okay." She took off his lab coat to reveal his shirt, damp with blood. She pulled it off over his head and almost vomited. There was a giant gash down his abdomen, and it was shades of black and purple. The was a strong stench of rotten flesh. Trying to gag as little as possible, Kim took a rag and began dabbing at the wound. When she was done and there was minimal blood, she took his lab coat and tied it around the his chest and across his shoulder like a sash, securing it as tightly as possible. She threw multiple blankets over him to keep him warm, and went to sleep herself, constantly worrying.

~~~~~

Duncan woke up first, and immediately noticed the pain in his chest. It was all a bit blurry, but he could faintly remember the crash and waking up, injured. He looked down and saw that the blankets he was under were starting to get blood stains, and took them off to reveal his lab coat tied around his chest and completely soaked in blood. He almost screamed, but then he realized that Kim was probably still sleeping. After struggling for a little while, he managed to stand up, and examined where they were. It seemed familiar, he just... couldn't put his finger on it. Deciding to ignore it, he continued to limp along the wall, looking around as he did so. The first major thing he noticed was that all four entrances were partially boarded up. They appeared to be done rather quickly, as the walls were made of dirt and were very thin. He then noticed Kim sleeping on the floor next to where he was, and gave a mental sigh that he hadn't screamed. As he contemplated his surroundings, Kim woke up, noticed he wasn't on his blankets, and started looking around for him. She saw him standing up and quickly stood up and bolted to him. She pummeled him with questions like, "Are you okay?" and, "How are you feeling?" After she checked his vitals and was satisfied with his health, she led him back to his blankets so that she could go out and look for more supplies. As soon as she left, he stood up again, this time with a bit more ease, though still difficult. He searched around for anything useful, and found a bag near where they had been sleeping with some water and food in it. He drank a bit of water and limped outside.  
Cautious to stay out of Kim's sight, Duncan managed to get around enough to see a good bit of the wreckage. When he decided he should go back and turned around to face the temporary base, it suddenly struck him why it was familiar. /They were sleeping in part of his old ship./ Looking back on it, he realized it was a bit obvious and he probably should have figured it out a bit sooner, but it was still a bit of a shock to him. He walked back over and laid down in a daze, and stayed that way, slightly dizzy, until Kim came back.  
"Hey, I made it back. There were some bandages near the wreckage of the left wing, and I found a bit more water near-"  
"Kim."  
"What is it?"  
"You need to stop working so hard."  
"What? You're injured, of course I'm going to work my arse off trying to help you! What do you think-"  
"You're still pregnant, aren't you?"  
She blushed, slightly embarrassed by the question. "Well, yes, but I-"  
"Shouldn't be straining yourself physically so much."  
She sighed, defeated. "Fine. But I'm still taking care of you as much as I can."  
"Deal." And that's exactly what happened for the next month.

~~~~~One Month Later~~~~~

By now, Duncan was mostly healed, and he was taking care of Kim for the most part. She was having some difficulty in walking around, and they had already used up the majority, if not all, of the salvage to be had. They had both agreed that they needed a new home.  
Early in the morning, Duncan got up and rationed out some of the little food and water that was left. He helped Kim up, and together, they headed down the mountain. Duncan took the flattest path he could, and they soon ended up in a large plains biome. They continued walking until they came across a hill, when Kim held out her hand and stopped Duncan. He, expecting the worst, responded with, "Are you okay? Do you need to take a break? What's wrong?"  
"It's... just... look." She lifted his head so that he was no longer looking at her, but the area around them. There were multiple biomes all around them, and they all came together right on the point of the hill. "H-here." Duncan nodded and got to work gathering materials for a small shack.  
For the first time in a month, Duncan felt hope. It was time for a new beginning.


	3. Names

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim delivers, and some names are contemplated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this is a short one, but I'm up late and wanna go to bed, dammit!

About 10 days passed, and the new base was well under way. They had the beginnings of a smeltery downstairs, and the small rooms upstairs had a couple of beds in them. They still didn't have a name, and that's what they were currently debating.  
"What about 'The Spiral Tower of Doom'?" Much to his despair, all of Duncan's suggestions, including 'The Deathly Column', 'The Cavern of Torture' and 'The Horror-House of Hell' had all been rejected.  
"How about no? What do you think of 'Kim's Kim chi Cascade'?" Unfortunately(for her), most of Kim's ideas were turned away as well.  
"Let's try-" He faltered when he saw Kim looking behind him at nothing in particular, just... staring. "Kim? Are you okay? What's wrong?"  
"New Camelot." She shifted her gaze to look in his eyes, and he felt like she was staring into his soul.  
"What?"  
"The base. New Camelot." Her hands drifted to her stomach absentmindedly, and she dropped her tone to a whisper. She sounded like she was about to cry. "Please." Duncan nodded, and she smiled, pulling him in to a warm embrace.  
Kim went into labor that night.

~~~~~

 

After 17 hours of pain and screaming, 9 pills, and 2 ruined blankets, the babies were born. She had had twins, one boy, one girl. They weren't identical, but instead held a shocking resemblance to their parents. The girl had been born infected by the flux, tainted already. Both her eyes were a shocking, deep purple, and most of her upper body was covered in a thin layer of the purple goo. The boy, however, looked completely normal, other than his eyes, which were a bright blood red. Ignoring their children's quirks, Kim and Duncan were trying to think of names. They had already agreed that they would both choose one name, and Kim was trying to think of a name for the girl. "Ughh, why is thinking of a good name so bloody hard?"  
Duncan raised an eyebrow, then responded with a smile, "Is it because you're giving a new life that will imprint the world a permanent identification that will stick with them their entire life?"  
Kim rolled her eyes, and mumbled loud enough for Duncan to hear, "At least /somebody/ still has a sense of humor." He gave her a punch on the shoulder, and she came up with the lame excuse, "Hey, don't wake the baby," even though she wasn't even holding either child. Duncan gave a patient sigh, and let her get back to thinking of a good baby name.  
Suddenly a smile spread across her face, and she looked down at the girl. She was currently sleeping in an old rag, made of thin wool. It had originally been part of a hang glider, but when it became severely damaged, Kim had broken it apart and taken bits and pieces she thought might be better later. Kim looked up at Duncan, smile still plastered onto her face, waiting for him to talk first while she stared. He sighed, and looked back at her. "What is it?" At this point, he was used to the routine- Kim would get a 'brilliant idea' and tell it to him, and when he didn't approve she would storm out and hide in the cherry trees, thinking again already about more names.  
"Nano." Duncan looked at her, then over to the baby girl. It seemed surprisingly fitting... /Nano./ It just, rung. He smiled, and gave a thoughtful nod. Kim smiled back, and sat down, content. "Your turn."  
Duncan sat down as well and put his head back, looking at the ceiling while thinking. Suddenly his lips curved into a devilish smile, and he looked at Kim. "Lalnable," He said. "Lalnable Hector."


	4. Experimenting with Mystcraft

For the next seven years, Kim took care of Nano and Lalnable, helping Duncan working on whatever odd project when she had a bit of free time. Nano and Lalna, as everyone had taken to calling Lalnable, were growing at an unbelievable rate. Nano was covered by more flux, now becoming mostly purple. Lalna, on the other hand, was growing like a normal child, and looked pretty average, other than his eyes. Nano was showing an interest in music, and Lalna was becoming more involved with science. One day, Duncan pulled Kim away while the kids were working on paintings. "What is it?" Kim didn't like leaving them alone, especially when they were acting innocent.  
"I want to talk to you about something." He led her down to the smeltery, two floors away from the kids.  
"No duh. What do you want to talk to me /about/?"  
"About... this place. Home."  
"What?"  
"I think we should move again." Kim's jaw dropped and Duncan was quick to retaliate. "What I mean is, the house is getting a little crowded, and, I mean, there are ways to move into a whole new world again, so-"  
"How?" Duncan was mind-blown by her easy acceptance. Kim saw this. "You're right. We need a fresh start. This place is too small for all of us, and-and-" She sighed deeply. "And I miss the adventure. I didn't want to say anything, I didn't want to admit it, but you're right. I want to leave this place."  
"O-okay, if you just go get the kids-"  
"No."  
"What?"  
Kim's face was firm with resolve. "We can't risk bringing the kids through some weird machine when we don't even know if it works ourselves. We go through first, then come back for the kids when we know it's safe."  
"Alright, then let me explain it to you." He pulled a book out from his back pocket.  
"This isn't another 'ancient magic voodoo' book, is it?"  
"No, no, this IS the portal."  
"Wait, what?"  
"Here's how it works: we go through this book into another world. A book will appear there that will let us go back. We'll go in, check it out, then come back for Nano and Lalna. Understand?"  
"Um, I think so. How do we activate it?"  
"Here, just put your hand on one of the pages-" They both put their hands on a page. "-then think about going through and ending up on the other side." They both concentrated all of their energy, and the book sucked them both in.  
Having all of her atoms taken apart and reassembled was a new experience for Kim, and when she came to on the other side, she felt dizzy and nauseous. When she finally felt better, she looked over at Duncan, and saw that the cuffs of his lab coat were speckled with purple, and his face had a slight lilac tint. "Duncan, what happened to you?"  
"What?" He looked down at his hand, then yelped. "It must have been while we were being teleported. The book breaks us down to our atoms, then transports us over and reassembles us. I guess we were standing too close together, and it reassembled some of your fluxed atoms into me."  
"This is too confusing. My head hurts." Kim pushed herself into a standing position. "Well, other than the risk of flux, I'd say it's safe for the-" She paused mid-sentence when she realized that there wasn't a book. "Duncan? Where's the book?"  
"Wha-shit."  
"Duncan, WHERE'S THE BOOK?" She walked up to him.  
"L-look, Kim, th-there must've been an accident-"  
"Duncan, you said there would be a book. WHERE'S THE BOOK?"  
"Look, Kim, I- I'm sorry. I should've warned you. When you travel through a MystCraft book, it brings you through to another world. Most of the time, a book is created with you when you teleport into the world. But there's a .05% chance that there's an error in the transfer, and that the book isn't created."  
"Then just build another one, for fuck's sake!" Kim was royally pissed. If Duncan had just separated her from her children-  
"Um, I can't."  
"What do you mean, 'you can't'? You made one before, now make one again!"  
"Now that we've failed one movement, the entire system from this world to New Camelot is corrupt. Even if we built another book, we couldn't go back."  
"No..." Kim collapsed again, and tears started streaming down her face. "We have to get back... WE HAVE TO GET BACK!" She started shaking Duncan violently, and he put his hands on her shoulders to hold her still.  
"Kim... Kim, look at me... Kim..." He tightened his grip on her shoulders. "Kim!" She stopped shaking him and looked up at him, tears streaking down her face. "Kim, it's okay. Nano and Lalna will be okay. Everything's okay."  
"But Duncan..."  
"Shh. Don't worry about it, Kim. It's okay."  
Kim held on to that lie, believed it, pretended she believed it, knowing that as soon as she let go of it and faced reality, she would break down again, and everything she believed in, everything she loved, would slip away.


	5. A Change in Perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nano and Lalnable have an interesting discussion as well while their parents are gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if I can keep up with this five chapters thing, but I'll try. This one is so late because I JUST finished it now, sorry about that. Sorry about this chapter, too. No I'm not, who am I kidding?

Lalnable and Nano stopped painting when they heard a loud noise coming from the smeltery room. Lalnable stood up and looked at Nano. "C'mon, let's check out that noise."  
"But didn't it come from the smeltery?"  
"Well, yeah. Let's go."  
"But we aren't allowed to go to the smeltery!"  
"Look, sis, if something bad happened to Mom and Dad, we HAVE to help them. It's the only thing we can do!"  
Nano crossed her arms and sat down hard. "Well I'M staying here. I'm not allowed to go to the smeltery, I don't go to the smeltery, and that's that."  
Lalnable grabbed Nano's arm and started dragging her towards the stairs. "We're going downstairs." Nano stood up, and, planting her feet firmly, began pulling free of Lalnable's grip.  
"I'm not going downstairs!" She started screaming, and he let go, sending her flying onto the floor.  
"How about a deal?" His sly smile gave Nano second thoughts.  
"What kind of deal?" She stood up and dusted herself off.  
"Come down with me to the ground floor, and if there's something you need to see downstairs, I'll call you down, OK?"  
"Fine. But if you call me down, it better be important."  
"Alright, let's go." He flew down the stairs and waited at the bottom for her to catch up. As she casually walked down the staircase, he said, "Aaaaand molasses wins again!"  
"Shut up." Years ago, Lalnable might have gotten to her, but by now she was just tired of him. "Alright, head on down, Sherlock."  
"I'll tell you if I find anything interesting." Nano could hear him walking around downstairs. She heard him stop before he shouted, "Uh, Nano? You might want to come down here..."  
Upon hearing her name, Nano reluctantly crept down the stairs. She saw Lalna on the other side of the room, hunched over something on the ground. "Great," she muttered under her breath, "another 'rocket-science gone wrong'." She strode across the floor, cautious to stay away from the smeltery. When she reached him, she stooped over his shoulder to see what he was looking at.  
"Look at these singe marks!" Lalnable moved aside and she could suddenly see a large black imprint on the floor, seeming to have come from some sort of fire or explosion.  
She shrugged it off and replied, "Maybe Dad was 'playing' with Tiddles again."  
"No, look at the book." Looking again, she saw that there was a small book sitting in the middle of the singe marks, untouched. It was open to a page with two hand marks on it, appearing to be made out of soot. She couldn't tell for sure, but she thought she saw bits of purple in one of them.  
"What /is/ that?"  
"I don't know. If I had to guess though, I'd say they tried to use magic and something went horribly wrong. They put their hands on the book to fix it, but to no avail." Nano picked up the book to investigate it further. "After abandoning hope of saving themselves, they exploded." She was still looking at the book and found it was titled 'MystCraft'.  
"Hey, check this out." Lalnable dropped his proud 'just-a-guess' smile and walked over to her. She pointed at the 'MystCraft' label and said, "I think I've heard this before... but I don't know where..."  
"Was it when Dad was talking about more of his crazy ideas?"  
Nano's eyes lit up with excitement. "Yes, yes that's it! Now what was he saying...? It was something about teleporting..." Now she was pacing with anxiety and excitement. "That's right! He said he was going to use MystCraft to find us a new home. That book didn't kill them, it teleported them! They're still alive!"  
Lalnable, on the other hand, looked disappointed. "So... I was wrong?"  
"Look, you idiot, they're alive!"   
"But my 'guess' was wrong!"  
"Y'know, this just proves that you're cold-blooded and selfish. You don't care that Mom and Dad are okay, just that you got your stupid guess wrong!" Her eyes suddenly started glowing an intense purple, the uncontrolled flux she harbored sensing a disturbance. She started walking toward him, and more voices seemed to join hers. "You're a monster! You're a greedy, heartless, bloodthirsty monster! You pretend to be normal, but there's nothing normal about you! Even your /name/ sounds like something out of a horror movie! 'Lalnable Hector'... what even IS that? You're nothing but an utter disgrace!" Terror overcame him. He didn't know what he was doing when he reached his hand out beside him. He didn't know what he was doing when he grabbed the piece of broken glass. He didn't know what he was doing when he stabbed Nano in the stomach. He only became aware of his actions when he found himself in front of Nano bleeding out with her blood all over his hands. She looked up at him, and it wasn't that monster that looked at him, the monster he had stabbed.  
It was his sister, dying.


	6. Contentment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim and Duncan get a house underway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back at it! You can look forward to five more chapters, folks! Five more whole(albeit probably short) chapters!

When Kim was done with her little 'breakdown', she and Duncan decided a new base was in order, half the day being gone already. There were some lovely autumn trees around the area, and a nice little stream beside a hill, so they decided to set up camp there. Kim took some cherry wood she had from the old world, and started laying down the foundations for a nice little hut. Duncan saw her and asked, "Hey, where did you get that wood? There aren't any cherry trees anywhere around here."  
"Oh, I brought it from-" she started before her eyes turned watery. "I brought it from home."  
"Oh, uh, sorry for bringing it up." They stood there for two or three long, awkward minutes before Kim got back to work on the hut to distract herself. "So, what are you building?"  
Kim directed her attention away from her flimsy scaffolding and to Duncan, who was awkwardly leaning against a tree. "Y'know, just building someplace so that we don't die tonight, same old, same old. How are you doing? Weather alright?"  
He put aside her sarcastic comments for the moment and asked, "Do you need any help?"  
"No, I plan on building an entire HOUSE on my own."  
"You're in quite the attitude tonight, aren't you?"  
"And you're /not/??" Her sarcastic demeanor melted away in an instant. "I've been separated from my kids and my home, and now you've gone and told me we can't ever go back and they can't ever come here! Are you /not/ 'in quite the attitude'?" She wasn't handling the situation quite as well as Duncan had intended. On top of that, her flux appeared to be pulsing, as though it, too, were mad. "We're handling hell, dealing with the worst possible outcome, and you're just passing it off as though nothing ever happened! I don't think you're in ANY position to be talking to me about 'quite the attitude'!" Her flux was definitely moving now, and her hair started to float. "I'm coping with the loss of my children AND my home while building /you/ a place to stay the night and I'm 'in quite the attitude'! You are the most incompetent-" She suddenly crumpled to the ground, holding her chest.  
"Kim? Kim, what's wrong?" He was on her in a second, checking her vitals before she could even say anything.  
"Th-the kids..." She said distantly before bolting upright, heavily breathing and saying, "There's something wrong with Nano!"  
"Kim, what do you mean? You're going to have to be more specific. What's wrong with Nano?"  
"Her soul force... it's starting to fluctuate! She's injured, and badly!"  
"How do you know this?"  
"I.. I don't know. The... flux is telling me, I guess." Kim was much more in control of her flux than Nano was, and didn't lose control, for the most part. When she did, though, it wasn't good, to say the least.  
"Okay, so how do we get to her? What do we do?"  
"I dunno, you're supposed to be the smart one here!"  
"Alright, alright, I'll think of a plan."  
After about a minute, when he still didn't have a plan, Kim shouted, "She's getting better! Her soul force, it's strengthening!"  
"Kim, that's great news! Can you tell what it is? What's healing her?"  
"I can't tell, just that she's getting better. Hopefully she took care of whatever, or WHOever, was hurting her."  
After another few moments deep in thought, Kim continued working on the scaffolding. Duncan eased up beside her and, taking a couple of small sheets of wood he had on him, starting adding paneling on top of the scaffolding. "Duncan, I'm sorry." He stopped messing with the panel he was working on to look over at her.  
"What?"  
"It's just... I was yelling at you, and I just lost control, and I was about to do something I would regret, and-"  
"Me too."  
"What are you talking about? I totally lost it, I was about to-"  
"I didn't know what I was going to do. I was driven by fear, and I was about to make a big mistake. If you hadn't collapsed..."  
Kim smiled. "Well then, if all the feelings are out and understood, do you want to finish this base before we're zombie chum?"  
Duncan returned the smile and said, "Sounds like a plan to me."

 

~~~~~

 

In the middle of the night, while Kim was still sleeping, Duncan got up and started sneaking around. He thought about all the other times someone had gotten up in the middle of the night to avoid the attention of the other. He shook his head. /Man, we have a messed up relationship./ He snuck up to the door and pressed his head up against it, trying to hear any zombies or other monsters. When he didn't hear anything, he silently opened the door and slipped out. He took out some cherry wood he had taken from Kim and got to work.  
When Kim woke up, she immediately noticed that she wasn't where she went to bed. Her first thought was that she had been kidnapped and was now being held hostage. When she moved, however, she noticed that she wasn't bound with chains or anything, so started looking around.  
There was a nice white couch next to a spiral staircase heading down. Statues of her and Duncan were on the wall next to her, glowing. There were windows on either side giving a nice view of a large field and river on one side and a light forest on the other. Deciding she had seen everything, she went downstairs.  
Downstairs was also nice, just empty. A set of double doors sat waiting on one side of the room, and a window was on the back, too high to see out of. Not wasting any time, she walked out the doors.  
As soon as she stepped out, frosty morning air surrounded her and mixed with the warm temperatures of the interior, clashing behind her. Ignoring the cold, or trying to, she looked at the front porch. A to-do list sat on her left, with empty space on her right. There were iron spikes all around, and Kim suddenly wondered again if she had been kidnapped. Examining the to-do list, she saw that it was mostly boring things, like "Make a Garden", or "Expand", but one stuck out: "Show Kim Around". Suddenly, she panicked. Where was she? Was someone supposed to come get her? Was there a punishment for getting up early? How long was she supposed to be here? Amidst all the chaos that ran through her brain at that moment, one thought rang clearly: /escape./ She suddenly made a run for it, high tailing it across the porch and jumping over any stairs. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she kept running, waiting until she reached the river to actually stop. That was when she heard Duncan behind her. "Kim! Kim, where are you going?" She turned around to see Duncan running down towards her, waving his arms frantically. "What's wrong?"  
Kim started running towards him. "Duncan, what's happening?"  
"I made some renovations. Did you already see everything, or would you like a house tour?"  
"Oh, I've seen plenty already." That remark earned her a punch on the shoulder. "Totally worth it."  
"Well, what are you doing? You never answered me."  
"Oh, uh, well, I-I kinda thought that...well..."  
She looked up at him in the eyes. "Well?"  
"I...I thought someone had kidnapped me." She spoke quietly, scared of what he might think.  
Instead of getting mad, he scooped her up in his arms, and said, after she screamed, "That's silly. Let's go home."  
He started walking home, talking about the house, but Kim wasn't listening. She curled up against him and fell asleep.


	7. Specimen Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lalnable deals with the aftermath of his actions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short one.

The flux could sense that its holder was injured. Blood loss levels were 70% of lethal, and rising. Intestine was punctured. The mother flux was getting constant updates about the condition. The attacker was still present. Desperate actions were indisputably necessary. Flux was being dispensed to shield the holder from further attack, which could easily be lethal. Shield was now up. Actions to heal were possible. Internal bleeding was being solved first. Intestine was 50% healed. Wound was being closed. Entire holder would be healed in five, four, three, two, one.

 

~~~~~

 

Nano didn't know what was happening. A bubble of flux had formed around her, and now she was being healed. She didn't understand it, but she didn't question it, either. If she was being healed by her flux for free, she wouldn't complain. She did suppose, though, that this meant she owed the flux something, but she tried not to think of that. Soon, her wound was closed and she felt better, but the flux ball didn't fall. After a while, she decided she was pretty tired, and fell asleep on the floor of the flux sphere.  
When she woke up, the flux fell and floated around her before sinking into the rest of the flux on her. Looking down, there was a blood stain beneath her where she had been when Lalnable had stabbed her. He was currently sitting in the corner, rocking back and forth, crying. When he saw her, he jumped up and ran to her, hugging her before she could say anything. She pushed him off and said, "You have some explaining to do."  
"Look, Nano, I don't know what happened. One moment I was in sitting in front of you, the next you were hunched over, bleeding to death! I swear I didn't mean to do it." He took her hands and looked into her eyes, but she pulled her hands back.  
"You expect me to believe /that/? You tried to kill me, for Jeb's sake!" She looked at him harshly, and he looked away.  
"But... Nano..."  
"Can it. I don't wanna hear your dumb excuses." She walked past him and up the stairs to the ground floor. "I'm leaving. Don't try to follow me. I won't be coming back." With that, she walked out the front door.

 

~~~~~

 

Lalnable watched as Nano walked away, and tears started forming down his face. Everyone had left him. His parents had abandoned them, and now his sister had left him too. No one loved him. They all hated him, that's why they left him. It was the only logical option. They all discarded him, threw him away. He was just too wrong to ever be loved or accepted. He was too different. He couldn't fit in. He couldn't be like everyone else, couldn't be normal.  
He vowed to himself to never make that mistake again, to think anyone could ever love him.  
Walking to his bedroom, he got a new lab coat on and packed his backpack with food and water, then closed it and threw it on his back. He left his room and walked downstairs, getting a good look at everything one last time before he walked out the door, leaving New Camelot to sit alone, abandoned.  
He didn't know where he was going, just that he was. Nothing could change his mind. They all hated him, they weren't coming back. He had to take his own path. He couldn't rely on anyone else anymore, just himself. No one else could be trusted. Trying to love, trusting, had only gotten him betrayed with a broken heart. No one loved him and no one ever would.  
A hazy purple fog lay dense all around, but he didn't care. He didn't know where he was going, he didn't have anywhere he had to be. It didn't matter to him that he didn't have any idea where he was going, he wouldn't have even if he could see.  
Eventually the grass turned from green to purple, and small tentacles started sprouting up from the ground. Eventually he came across a large castle, surrounded and covered with flux, growing all around it, consuming it. He walked around the perimeter until he found a small cave, and entered. Inside, he found a small dig-out.  
And his sister.  
Or someone who looked like his sister, at the least. She had flux like her, and looked practically identical. She saw Lalnable and said, "Who are you? What are you doing here? How did you find me?"  
Lalnable, seeing an opportunity, smiled and said, "I'm Lalnable Hector, your new boss. No further questions from you. I don't care what your name is, you're Specimen Five now."  
Specimen Five raised her eyebrows and looked at him. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid you can't do that. You can't just waltz into my house and call yourself my boss. That's not how it works. Beside, how old are you? You look young, not even ten! What are you doing out here on your own?"  
Lalnable showed a frustrated frown. "You're just as bad! And when I say I'm your boss, I'm your boss! Are we clear?"  
Five looked at him with an entertained expression. "Sorry, would you please explain what lets you walk in and take control of my life again? I didn't quite catch that part."  
He walked up to her, flames of rage burning in his already red eyes. "Why, you little..." He grabbed both of her shoulders and delivered a firm blow to her stomach with his knee.  
She immediately fell to her knees, doubled over in pain. "What the hell was that for...?"  
He grabbed her by her hair and held her up to eye level. "I said no more questions from you." Suddenly, his vision flashed, and he was no longer in the cave but instead in the middle of the forest, not holding Specimen Five by her hair, but instead Nano. Tears were streaking her face, and she looked utterly horrified. He dropped her and scrambled backwards. "N-Nano?"  
She looked up at him, and her expression was one filled with hurt and confusion. "Why? Why do you keep doing these things to me?"  
Then his vision flashed again, and he was back in the cave, Specimen Five on her knees, whimpering. "Please... I'll be good... My name is Specimen Five, and you're my boss, just... please don't hurt me anymore!"  
Lalnable almost felt bad for her, then remembered that she couldn't actually do anything other than hate him. "Good girl. Your first task is to make this place nicer. It's a total dump. I want a blood altar. Make it snappy." He motioned for her to get to work, and she quickly got up and started working.  
Satisfied, he sat back and watched her work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forget, did you want her alive or present? Interesting, it looks like I made the situation worse but still listened to you.


	8. Meeting the Neighbors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim stumbles upon the neighbor's sign.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TPOL, I felt so bad after posting Chapter 7 right before/after (I don't know which) you gave me such a wonderful happy story, I felt inclined to post another chapter, this one a little bit happier.
> 
> You probably hate me so much after last chapter, you deserve a bit of happy filler.

For a couple of months, everything was okay with Kim and Duncan. Kim practiced witchery while Duncan worked on computers and other electronics for the base. Together, they went to the Twilight Forest and added to their collection of pets. For a couple of months, they lived in peace.  
Then Hat Films moved in.  
Actually, things were fine while they were there and didn't meet. But one day, while Kim was looking around for more witchery ingredients, she found the Hat Corp sign. After inspecting it thoroughly, she turned on her radio to contact Duncan.  
"Hey, Dunc?"  
"Yeah?"  
"I, uh, found a... thing."  
"What kind of thing? Wait, do I want to know?"  
"It's a sign."  
"Oh. What does it say?"  
"Um... 'Hat Corp.'."  
"Well that's... interesting."  
"What do I do? Ooh, can I blow it up?"  
"No, don't blow it up! This 'Hat Corp.' will be pissed if you do."  
"Uh... Duncan?"  
"Yeah?"  
"I blew it up."  
"What? I just told you not to!"  
"One more thing."  
"What?"  
"I was bluffing."  
"Bye." She heard the familiar click of the other end turning off.  
"Better mark this on the map." She brought out the map she and Duncan often used, and started plotting out the path she had taken and the sign. It took a good half-hour, but she finally got it all marked out before returning home, but not before a certain talking walrus saw her.  
Trott ran back through the deed room and into the elevator, barely even stopping to get his bearings before running into the secret base, startling Alsmiffy and Ross up from what they were each working on.  
"Oi, mate, what is it?" Smiffy looked more annoyed than startled.  
"Someone was checking out our sign!" Instead of looking surprised or concerned, they both smiled.  
"It's about time we got a customer!" Ross stood up, a couple of loose bolts dropping to the ground. "It's been bloody ages since anyone bought a Dodgy Deed!"  
"How many did they buy? Which did they buy?" Smiffy had a glint in his eye, excited to hear about their success.  
"They didn't buy anything, mate! They just came up and stood around the sign for a half hour or so and left!"  
Ross' expression shifted to one of anger. "They were there for half an hour and you didn't even talk to them? You're a bloody idiot, mate!"  
Trott threw up his arms in exasperation. "I didn't know they weren't gonna buy anything! How was I supposed to know if they were a customer who was going to buy out our supplies or a lost traveler? I had no idea!" They continued arguing for hours, while Kim flew back home, oblivious.  
When she got back, Duncan was crouched down, his radio to his ear. "Hey Dunc," she said casually as she hung up her jetpack.  
"Hey." He didn't even look up at her.  
"Whatch'ya doing?"  
"Listening."  
"To what?"  
"Give me your radio." Kim was startled, but handed it over anyway. He adjusted the station, then handed it back to her. "Listen."  
Kim put her radio up to her ear and listened. She heard what sounded like three men talking about... someone.  
"If you had just told them to come into the deed room we might've made a sale!" A first voice said.  
"Look, mate, if I had known that they weren't going to buy anything, I would've!" A second person was quick to retort.  
"Well it doesn't matter now, does it? All that matters is that we're down a sale, and you could've stopped that! What if they were doing something sinister, like examining our base for weaknesses? We'd be screwed!" A third chimed in.  
This useless bickering continued for roughly an hour before the third voice, who Kim now knew was named Smiffy, said, "Oi, mates, we've been arguing for an hour! Daylight'll be gone soon, I'm going out. Radio in if you need me." She heard footsteps walking towards wherever the signal was being picked up from, then heard, much louder, "Mates, we're being tapped! Get over here!" More footsteps could be heard, this time growing so loud she had to take her radio away from her ear.  
The first one, Ross, said, "Where does it say we're being tapped?"  
Trott, the second, ignored Ross' comment and leaned in next to the radio, saying, "Wherever you are, we will find you, and kill you. Or sell you a deed. Whichever comes first."  
Then Ross said, "Smiffy! It says three devices are connected to the signal! The other two are ours!"  
"Yours are off, they can't be counting towards the number," Smiffy retorted.  
"No, they count, even if they're off!"  
They continued arguing, which Kim and Duncan took as a cue to disconnect their radios. Kim looked at Duncan and said, "What was that?"  
"I'm not sure. We could probably track it, though."  
"Alright, do your magic."  
He walked up to an electronic map labeled with radio numbers. A large '18' was printed across the top, and Duncan pointed to the number on the radio. "The number is 18.9.7. That means it's in this dimension." He started looking through the sections on the map. "The second number is nine, which means it's in our section." He gestured to a large area of the map labeled '9' that included their base. "The last number is seven, which puts the signal right..." He faltered for a moment. "It's coming from the area next to that sign you found."  
"So 'Hat Corp.' is a bunch of idiots living in a mountain selling 'Dodgy Deeds'?"  
"Not necessarily. Just that we found a signal near that sign and know someone is living around there."  
"And that they're probably Hat Corp."  
"Probably."  
"C'mon, I have to get some Spanish Moss, wanna help?"  
"Sure." With that, they went off in search of Spanish Moss.


	9. Class is in Session

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Specimen Five starts to slip, and Lalnable has to give her a refresher.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you read this, please know that I feel something that has a slight resemblance to remorse.

Lalnable was enjoying himself, maybe a bit too much. Specimen Five was keeping up her promise and being good, and she had dug out a nice spot for them in the cave. She had made the renovations he asked for, including a wall with the skins of all their past enemies as a trophy wall. They had a room with all of their captive villagers, and even a nuclear reactor. But Five was starting to act up.  
It started small, with things like using the wrong color mini-umbrella in his drink when she knew his preference. He let things like that slide, assuming it wouldn't get any worse. But it did.  
She started calling him 'Lalna', which scared him a little bit because he never told her his nickname or his background; he didn't let it show, of course. He forgave her for that, too, telling himself that she couldn't possibly have known about his past. But eventually, she crossed the line.  
"Hey, Lal, where's the cobblestone?" Five called out from across the cave.  
"It's in the cobblestone chest. Don't call me 'Lal'." His voice held no emotion.  
"Why not?"  
"Because I SAID SO!" He threw his fist at the wall, creating a hole and cracking the area around it.  
Specimen Five only laughed. "That's not a good reason."  
That was when something inside him snapped. He charged across the room and towered over her, asking, "What did you say?"  
Five looked up at him, not a hint of fear anywhere on her. "I said that you saying so isn't a good reason." Damn it, she didn't have any respect left for him!  
He grabbed her jaw and forced her to look up at him. "I think it's time we have a little lesson, don't you?" Now, fear was all he could see in her eyes, and he smiled. This was going to be even easier than he thought. He slapped her across the face. "That's for doubting me." He slapped her again, even harder. "That's for questioning me." He punched her in the stomach, then kicked her feet out from under her, sending her flying to the ground. "And that's for disobeying in the first place." He looked down at her with no remorse, staring into her fearful eyes with his power-hungry, emotionless eyes. "Any questions?" She shook her head frantically, then scrambled up to her feet, about to go back to her task. Lalnable kicked her feet out again, then knelt down so that he could take hold of her head and hold her eye-to-eye with him. "You don't leave unless I tell you to leave." She was physically shaking now, and he only widened his smile. She was right were he wanted her.  
That was when he had another flash, and he was in a large wooden hut, kneeling over his sister again. She looked absolutely petrified. He stared into her eyes, and tried not to show any emotion. "I'm not falling to this hallucination again." Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to speak. "Silence." She stopped before she even started, and stared at him. "I'm not going to fall prey to this dumb illusion twice." Then he flashed back to Specimen Five, who was curled up at his feet, rocking back and forth.  
"Please... no more... please..."  
Lalnable smiled sinisterly and said, "Well that's what you said last time, and look where that got us." He squatted down and grabbed her by her hair, pulling her up to eye level. "I think we have a bit more to do before class is truly out."  
Still holding her by her hair, he slapped her face. "Your name is Specimen Five." He hit her again. "I am your boss, and you will always refer to me as such." He hit her once again, this time leaving a bright red mark on her face. "You will ask me no questions, and will not talk back to me." He kept doing this until she was almost unconscious, the pain numbing all of reality. Then he dropped her hair and she fell to her knees, bleeding profusely and barely alive. "You may leave. Get back to work."  
She slumped over, barely holding on to the last thread of life left in her. Now that the constant income of pain had ended, all of her wounds burned and all of her muscles ached, and she just wished that maybe someone would put her out of her misery. But she heard Lalnable telling her to get to work, and something deep down inside of her told her to get up, gave her just enough energy that she could carry out whatever mindless task he gave her next. She did them, she completed whatever he told her to, but it wasn't her doing it. She was somewhere else, buried behind the pain and suffering he left her in. It didn't matter how long she waited, she was still in eternal pain, sitting behind a closed door, watching as someone else moved her around, controlled her. She felt violated, and robbed of her identity, like nothing was hers anymore, not even her body, she was just a mind, trapped inside a zombie and watching, not able to do anything.


	10. Operation Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys at Hat Corp decide it's time to contact the spies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For a while now, I've meant to say this: Thanks to my sister for proofreading all of my chapters before I release them! (She actually clung onto my arm and made me promise I wouldn't kill Nano after reading Chapter Five!) She's been a big help, and I figured she deserved some credit.
> 
> (Not going to show her this, but I'm pretty sure she just proofreads so she can read them ahead of time. Just a theory though.)

The boys at Hat Corp. were frantic. While they were arguing, two devices disconnected from the signal. Smiffy swallowed hard. "That wasn't your devices, mate." Ross and Trott nodded in silence.  
Trott looked at them, then said, "Do you think it coulda been that bloke checkin' out our sign?"  
Ross stood up firmly, suddenly breaking the hold their fear had on them. "Well it doesn't bloody matter, does it? Somebody's spying, that's what matters."  
Trott followed, firmly announcing, "Ross has a point, Smith. We can't just sit here and wait for somebody to come and bloody kill us! We've gotta do something."  
Smiffy, however, held firm. "But what can we do? They know our radio signal, they can listen to us whenever they feel like it! It's not right, and we can't do anything to stop it."  
Ross looked at him, saying, "Oh, but there is, my green friend, there is."  
"How?" Trott inquired.  
"You'll see, mate. You'll see."

 

~~~~~

 

"Somehow I doubt this plan will work." Trott was in the least secure hiding spot, trying to stay hidden in the 'O' of 'Corp'.  
"Don't worry mate, it's just you that'll be sacrificed to the spies. The rest of us will be fine." Ross and Smiffy laughed, trying to hide the risk they were taking with silliness. "And if anyone else dies or gets mauled at all, we'll just abandon plan. At least one person will survive."  
"I know what they say, but being a doctor, I assure you, laughter is /NOT/ the best medicine. It's actually quite rubbish."  
"Well that won't matter once you're spy fodder."  
"Can we just get on with the plan?"  
Ross sighed. "Fine. Smiffy, turn on your radio." He clicked it on, and the signal said one device was connected. "Trott, you too." The indicator flipped to two devices, and when Ross turned his on, three.  
"Alright, now have an interesting conversation. I know it's hard, but try not to be /too/ boring."  
"Talking Walrus, are you reading? Talking Walrus, are you reading?"  
"Talking Walrus reads. Is Green Thing prepared to take action?"  
"Positive. Operation Conversation in 3, 2, 1."  
Just then, two more signals clicked on, and Ross said, "Oi! Who are you? What're you doing listening to us?"  
Trott and Smiffy, not seeing the signals, looked at his hiding place. "We're your friends, you idiot!"  
"No, not you, the spies! They've connected! Activate step two!" Smiffy and Trott turned off their devices.  
The spies stuttered, then a male voice said, "We're the Flux Buddies."  
Ross looked up to the sign where Smiffy and Trott were, then yelled, "They say they're fuck buddies."  
"Well that doesn't help very much!"  
Ross turned back to his radio. "There are alot of fuck buddies, you're going to have to be more specific."  
This time a female voice came over the signal, saying, "No, /Flux/ Buddies! Like, you know, purple stuff?"  
Ross turned back to the sign. "Alrighty, they're actually Flux Buddies, but are probably still fuck buddies." He spoke into the radio again. "Why are you listening to our signal?"  
The male voice came back on, saying, "I found your signal the other day. I got curious, so we came back."  
"Who are you?"  
He heard them have a brief conversation, but he couldn't decipher the actual words. Then the female voice came back on, saying, "I'm Kim. My colleague is Duncan." Duncan said hello, and Ross got back to the interrogation.  
"What's your radio number?"  
Duncan sounded offended. "I'm sorry? Your asking for our /radio number/? That's private information, I'm afraid I can't give you that."  
Ross shouted up to the sign again. "They're being resistant! Initiate phase three and get their radio number!"  
Trott and Smiffy clicked on their radios, and Ross said, "I've invited my friends to chat with us, I hope you don't mind."  
Trott held his radio up to his mouth, then whispered, "It's me again."  
There was a pause, then Kim said, "We'll never tell you, even if it costs us our lives."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued in the next story...


End file.
